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Having a child with a life-threatening food allergy, I know first hand how scary it is to eat away from home let alone take a vacation. When you no longer have control over the food your child is going to eat and the contaminants it may come in contact with, it’s a lot of stress. There’s great news for parents of children who suffer from severe food allergies like my son. Disney Parks and Cruise Line have teamed up with Mylan Inc. the makes of EpiPen® & EpiPen Jr® to have special EpiPen® locations throughout the parks and cruise ships that began in late 2014. If you’re child suffers from severe food allergies, then you know first hand the anxiety and worry that comes with travel.

My son was first diagnosed with his peanut allergy when he was 2, only a few weeks before our first trip to Walt Disney World. A tiny bite of a peanut butter cupcake immediately sent him to the hospital in full anaphylactic shock. Within in seconds of taking a bite, he began vomiting, broke out in hives and had trouble breathing.

That day was quite possibly the scariest day of my life and his too. He’s ten now and still remembers how scary that day was. He always checks the ingredients and double checks with one of us before he eats anything new.

Within minutes life as we knew it changed. We had to watch everything he ate. We had to make sure no one fed him snacks that weren’t cleared by us first. We had to check ingredients and menus anytime we ate out.

Just a few weeks after this happened, we had our first trip to Walt Disney World. We were looking forward to it for months so there was no way I was canceling. I just knew I had to double and triple check anything we gave to him, I had his EpiPens but I was still nervous. At the time, I had no idea how amazing Disney is dealing with food allergies.

Every trip (and we go every year) Disney has been amazing in handling his allergies. His allergy is noted on our reservation so when the hostess comes to our table, he/she will take our drink order and send the chef right over to talk to us. The chef will go over his allergies, what he can and can’t have and sometimes they even make him a special platter like this one from Ohana. He was so excited to his own platter of waffles and bacon made especially for him.

This is one of many reasons we love Disney. They make traveling with a food allergic child more bearable. Now having access to EpiPens right in the parks and on the cruise ships is just one more reason this food allergy mama loves Disney!

Now Disney Parks and Cruises will have:

Nurses trained to adminsters EpiPen Auto-Injectors during First Aid Station operating hours to assist guests experiences a severe allergic reaction.

Disney’s guide maps will now include an EpiPen Auto-Injector symbol and new signage at First Aid Stations throughout the parks

Updated signage in the parks highlighting EpiPen® locations

I’ll still carry my EpiPens® with me at all times, but just knowing there is this option is so comforting.

Exciting news from Disney Junior – Disney has created their first Latina Princess! Today we were introduced to Princess Elena of Avalor, a confident and compassionate teenager in an enchanted fairytale kingdom inspired by diverse Latin cultures and folklore. We’ll first get to met Princess Elena in a special episode of Disney Junior’s, “Sofia the First” which is beginning production and scheduled to premiere in 2016. That storyline will pave the way in 2016 for the launch of the animated series “Elena of Avalor”.

Princess Elena’s journey began long ago when her parents and kingdom were taken from her by the evil sorceress, Shuriki. Elena bravely faced the sorceress to protect her little sister, Princess Isabel, and grandparents but in the process, her magical amulet pulled her inside its enchanted jewel, saving her life but imprisoning her at the same time. Decades later, Princess Sofia of Enchancia discovers the truth about the amulet she has worn since joiner her royal family and sets out to restore Elena to her human form and help her return to the kingdom of Avalor.

Elena is the rightful heir to the throne, but since she is only 16 years old she will rule Avalor with the help of a Grand Council comprised of her Grandfather Tito, Grandmother Cici and Royal Advisor, Duke Esteban. She’ll even be joined by some magical friends like Mateo, a wizard-in-training, and Skylar, a magical flying creature.

Like all Disney Junior programming, “Elena of Avalor” stores will be guided by an established curriculum that nurtures multiple areas of child development including physical, emotional, social and cognitive; thinking and creative skills, as well as moral and ethical development. Created for kids age 2-7 and their families, the stories are designed to communicate positive messages and life lessons that are applicable to young children. Including the importance of family and family traditions.

Having my own little Latina Princess, I’m excited to learn more about Elena and introduce her to my daughter. She’ll be at the perfect age when “Elena of Avalor” premieres I can’t wait to explore the show with her.

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration “On the Road” in NYC. To say I was ecstatic that I was selected to attend would be an understatement. When I first opened the email and saw “you’re invited”, I nearly fell off my chair. I knew there was no way that I would miss attending what was sure to be an amazing event. So I immediately checked my calendar, made after school arrangements for my son (since I usually pick him up everyday) and started looking for tips on attending my first ever blog conference. Even though this was only a half day event, I knew had to make the most of every minute so I wanted to be prepared.

The day could not come quick enough for me. I had my outfit picked out, my bag all packed and was ready to go. When the day finally arrived, I headed out for my hour long drive to the train station to meet up with one of the gals I had met via Twitter who was attending as well.

When we finally arrived to the hotel, we were greeted by this sign and knew I knew we were in the right place.

Since we were early, we had time to mingle in the waiting area with some of the other attendees. (reason #1 why it comes in handy to have business cards to pass out to everyone you meet. I’m so glad I brought them and I’ll talk more about that later)

Once we were let into the room, we all quickly went and found a seat. Each table had a different Monsters University plush that ended up being a giveaway for a lucky person at each table. We had the pleasure of being joined by Mike Wazowski. Isn’t he so cute!?

Once we all were all in and seated, we were treated to a yummy breakfast.

Throughout the day, we were treated to some wonderful speakers. I had the pleasure of meeting the wonderful Maria Bailey of Mom Talk Radio and hearing her speak! Listening to her was one of the highlights of my day and so much of what she said and shared really hit home with me.

Up next was Gary Buchanan, Disney Social Media Managing Editor. He was such a nice guy and so full of energy! He shared with us all kinds fun things coming to Walt Disney World and Disneyland. He had me drooling in my seat while he was talking about all the great new things in Disneyland, like Cars Land. I’ve never been to Disneyland and after seeing some of these pictures it made me want to go even more! Cars Land looks absolutely amazing with just by looking at the pictures, it makes you feel like you are in the movie!

I just thought this image was too cute!

We also heard from Michelle Stepney, Disney’s Public Relations Content Director. She gave a great presentation – Get Ready for Your Close-Up – on working with the media.

Not only did we get to hear from the wonderful speakers representing Disney Parks, we also heard from some amazing and inspirational moms. Our keynote speaker was Jennifer Labit of Cotton Babies. Hearing her story and her amazing journey was such an inspiration. Other speakers on our mom panel included:

Hearing each of these women speak and share their tips with us was amazing. I definitely learned a lot that day.

Not only did I learn a lot but I was also lucky enough to win this incredible American Tourister suitcase!! I was the very first winner of the day to win one of these suitcases!! (Reason #2 why should have business cards printed to bring with you! I almost didn’t order them but I’m so glad I did.) The lime green color is gorgeous and was nicknamed “Jedi Green” by Gary Buchanan. When I told my Star Wars obsessed son about that nickname, he immediately claimed it for himself!!

After the conference ended I stuck around for a little longer to mingle with some of the other attendees who I didn’t get to chat with at the beginning. After our mingling was done, I headed out into the city for a wonderful lunch with a great group of girls!!

Once lunch was over, @DisneyGalTricia and I headed back out through the streets of NYC to catch the train back home! It was such an incredible day and one I won’t forget! Not only did I get to learn so much but I made some great friends!! I am so glad I had the opportunity to attend this amazing event.

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